


Soft

by sanctuary_for_all



Category: Single Parents (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M, Family, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Love Confessions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-30 01:57:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17214860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all
Summary: It was Will's fault, really. He was so soft and fluffy that he made people who were around him too long get infected with it, and no amount of sarcasm was ever quite enough to counteract its effects.





	Soft

"I feel my fear of camping has been vindicated," Graham announced, eating semi-healthy cereal at the Cooper kitchen table. There were even _vitamins_ in it. "The big tent around our house is _extremely_ disturbing to look at."  
  
Angie, getting ready to go at a much more relaxed speed than her usual rush, kept one ear on the conversation as Sophie responded. "Fumigation tents and camping tents are different. Camping tents aren't scary because they're not full of poisonous gas."  
  
"Which will be _entirely_ out of your house by the time you and your mom move back in," Will added smoothly. Since this wasn't one of the mornings he did the weather, he was undoubtedly bustling around in full domestic mode. "The company handling your fumigation is very reputable. No one's ever had any problems with their work."  
  
"Feel free to stay afraid of camping, though." Angie headed into the kitchen, dropping a kiss on top of Graham's head before heading to the cupboard to get one of Will's stash of travel thermoses. "Because I am _also_ scared of camping, so that works out well for both of us."  
  
"It just shows how smart you are." Graham sounded deeply satisfied by the idea.  
  
She turned around when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Will was standing there, a full travel thermos of coffee in one hand, a banana in the other, and an amused expression on his face. "You know you can actually sit down and eat something, right?," he asked, handing her everything. "You've got enough time before you and the kids have to leave."  
  
She gave him her own amused look as she hopped up on the counter. "Afraid the judging team from Good Housekeeping is going to peek in the windows and see me not having a balanced breakfast?" she asked, taking her first sip of coffee. She really shouldn't be surprised that it was made exactly how she liked it.  
  
He just smiled. "Fingers crossed that I get the big prize this year."  
  
She felt a burst of warmth as he headed back to the fridge, which was worrying enough that she immediately started peeling the banana to distract herself. Mornings were supposed to be _suffered_ , a forced stare-down with consciousness that she took on every morning because she loved her son and needed to make sure he had a roof over his head. If there was any warm or happy moments in mornings, they were either because of Graham, coffee, or chocolate baked goods. That was _it_.  
  
It was Will's fault, really. In fact, the fact that _all_ of this felt too easy was probably also his fault. He was so soft and _fluffy_ that he made people who were around him too long get infected with it, and no amount of sarcasm was ever quite enough to counteract its effects. Even now, when the sheer _annoyance_ of being forced to move in with someone should have been enough to stop her from going squishy, it never quite worked as well as it should. It was still _way_ too damn easy for him to make her go soft, and she couldn't even yell at him for it. It would be like kicking a puppy.  
  
Outside her head, morning conversation had gone on without her. Sophie, who had lived with Will long enough to probably be completely immune to the squish, carried her bowl over to the sink and started rinsing it out. "You should try to stay until Saturday, even if your house is ready by then. Between the three of us, I'm sure we could talk Dad into making his special pancakes."

Graham's entire face lit. "The ones with the shapes? They're _amazing._ "  
  
Angie watched Will perk up a little in pleased pride, another burst of warmth sneaking up before she could fight it off. "Let me guess what the shapes are," she teased. "Susan B. Anthony? Marie Curie?"  
  
"They're mostly unicorns, if you must know," Will replied, exaggeratedly gathering his dignity. "Though I will admit, I can do a mean set of test tubes."  
  
"He really can," Sophie added, getting her backpack.  
  
"Can you do a lion for me this time?" Graham asked excitedly, hurrying to rinse out his own bowl and get his backpack. "A real one? Eating even a pancake version of Mr. Roar would probably be far too traumatizing for me."  
  
"I think I could probably pull that off." Will handed both kids the lunches he'd made. "Chicken salad for Sophie, PB and J for Graham. Carrot sticks and all-natural fruit snacks for both of you." Then he turned to Angie, holding out a Tupperware container and an expression that normally suggested he was trying to lure a cat close enough to be pet. "And I _know_ you said salads are for small, fluffy animals, but this has chicken and cheese and I really think you'll like it more than you think you will." He wiggled it a little, as if he was holding something tempting. "If you don't, I promise to never try and make you eat green-leaf salad again."  
  
She was more amused than annoyed, which was _completely_ ridiculous and entirely due to Will's powers. "Why are you so interested in getting me to eat healthier?"  
  
"It's what he does," Sophie said, looking long-suffering but fond. "Take the salad. If you don't, the next stage is the bunny rabbit routine. It's better for everyone if that doesn't happen."  
  
Graham looked intrigued as Angie raised an eyebrow at him. "Really?"  
  
Will nodded, not even slightly embarrassed. "Animals are very wise and can teach us a lot."  
  
Angie sighed, completely unable to fight off the smile as she took the salad. She had never in her _life_ met a bigger dork than Will Cooper. "You're lucky I love you," she murmured, dropping a quick kiss on his mouth as she hopped down from the counter and grabbed her coffee. It was a little early, but if they left now they might be able to avoid being caught in the drop off line behind--  
  
She'd only gone a few steps when she registered the dead silence around her, so quiet it sounded like she was the only one who was even breathing. Both kids were staring at her, eyes wide like she'd just stripped naked and run down the street screaming, and for a single blissful second Angie genuinely had no idea what was going on.  
  
Then her brain, ever helpful, provided her with a detailed recap of everything she'd said and done in the last 20 seconds.  
  
She froze, all the breath rushing out of her lungs in absolute horror at what she'd just let herself do. Her brain was in even worse shape, having delivered the bad news only to find itself completely incapable of handling the consequences. A panicked chorus of  _no no no no no no_ played on a loop in her head, and if her muscles hadn't all locked up then she would have definitely dropped the damn salad.  
  
She absolutely could not, under any circumstances, risk looking at Will's face. Even the _thought_ of seeing what his expression was right now was enough to get her hyperventilating.  
  
She heard him inhale, clearly gearing up to say _something_ , and the burning need to _not_ be here when that happened was enough to make her legs move. "We've got to go," she managed, horrified at how awful her voice sounded, then fled out the door without stopping to see whether or not the kids would follow her.  
  
000  
  
They did, as it turned out, staying more silent than she had heard either one of them ever be awake. They stayed that way the whole drive to school, though in the rearview mirror she could see them having _extensive_ conversations with their eyebrows that she didn't dare try and translate. When they got to the school they filed out of the minivan without prompting, looking like they were wrestling with some serious cosmic-level questions.  
  
Angie, on the other hand, was _fine_. She was a _professional_ , perfectly capable of pushing the pause button on a nervous breakdown so she could do her job. This wasn't even that terrible, compared to some of the other things that she'd had to deal with in her life. She could _totally_ deal with the possibility that she had freaked out and forever alienated the complete _dork_ who had somehow managed to become her best friend.  
  
Besides, it was basically his fault in the first place. If he hadn't used his stupid mush powers on her and turned her brain into jello, there was no _possible_ way she would have _ever_ done something so soft and fluffy and _idiotic_. So really, he _had_ to forgive her. And if she had to yell at him until he understood that, then so be it.  
  
She'd nearly managed to psych herself up by the time she'd made it into her work parking lot, but then she looked over and saw the salad sitting on the passenger's seat. Angie stared at it, throat tight, then slowly dropped her forehead against the steering wheel. She squeezed her eyes shut until she was absolutely, _positively_ certain she wouldn't put the _worst_ possible cap on the damn morning by bursting into tears. Then, without lifting her head, she opened her eyes, pulled out her phone, and called Poppy.  
  
She answered on the third ring. "I've got 10 minutes in case you need to rant about how frustrating it is to live with someone again, but the one Women's Studies class is about to get out at the local community college. The students this year are even more clueless than usual, and my sources tell me papers are due."  
  
She let out a shaky breath. "I kissed him."

There was a pause. "I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume we're not talking about Derek, especially because that would mean there is a _lot_ you haven't told me." There was the sound of something being set down. "But if we are, then I'm going to need you to stay right where you are so I can stage an official intervention."  
  
"It's not Derek." Angie closed her eyes again. How the hell had she messed up so badly that kissing her hot butthole ex felt like the _safer_ option? "I kissed _Will_."  
  
There was a much longer pause this time. "When you say kissed..."  
  
"On the mouth. In front of the kids before I dropped them off for school." She dropped her head back against the steering wheel. "I also kind of told him that I loved him." She hadn't ever been able to say the words to Owen, ether during their weird office romance or when they'd actually been dating, but with Will it had just _fallen_ out of her mouth.  
  
Poppy, who had heard the entire story about Owen and the "I love you" problem, inhaled sharply. "Where are you?"

Angie didn't bother lifting her head. "In the parking lot by my office."  
  
"I'll be there in 10."  
  
000  
  
Angie was still in exactly the same position when Poppy slipped into the passenger's seat 10 minutes later. "Start from the beginning," she ordered kindly. "Don't leave anything out."  
  
"It was Will's fault." That seemed like the safest place to start, and the only thing that might possibly justify the _insane_ things she'd done. "It's harder to fight off his powers when I'm living with him, and he was doing that _thing_ where he--"  
  
"Wait." Poppy put a hand on Angie's arm. "What powers?"  
  
The comment was confusing enough to make Angie lift her head. "You know, his..." She waved her hand in the air, trying to find the word. "...mush powers. The way he's so _soft_ that it makes anyone around him soft and melty, and you find yourself saying and doing things that you _never_ would if you had your...."  
  
The words trailed off when she saw Poppy's face change, the confusion slowly but surely transforming into such a deep sense of sympathy that Angie felt a fresh spike of terror. That wasn't a "I know your pain" face. That was a "oh honey" face. "What?" Poppy hesitated, clearly trying to come up with the gentlest way to say what she was about to say, but waiting for it was worse than abandoning her last shreds of dignity. "Listen, I know how pathetic all of this is. Just spit it out and make me confront it."  
  
If anything, Poppy's expression became even gentler. "It's not pathetic. Our unconscious minds can have powerful messages for us." Then, oh so carefully, she laid a hand back on Angie's arm. "The thing is, Will doesn't have any powers."  
  
Angie's brow lowered. "Of course he does. With the--"  
  
Poppy shook her head. "I love Will. He's like a brother to me. But I have never once felt particularly soft or melty because of his presence."  
  
The entire world tilted dangerously. "What?" This time, her voice cracked on the word.  
  
There was genuine, profound sympathy on Poppy's face now. "If Will does have powers, they only work on one person."  
  
Angie's hands tightened on the steering wheel, terrified to realize this wasn't the surprise it should have been. She'd referred to kissing Will as phenomenally stupid dozens of times, but never once had she called it an _accident_. "The only person who can make me feel softer than Will is _Graham_."  
  
Poppy started rubbing her arm soothingly. "That's how love works, in my experience."  
  
At the word "love," Angie squeezed her eyes shut. "Don't tell me that. I don't want to know that."  
  
Poppy had gone into her therapist voice now. "I think a part of you disagrees with that."  
  
Angie dropped her forehead back against the steering wheel with a groan. "Then that part of me is a dumbass."  
  
Poppy sighed. "Hearts are like that."  
  
000  
  
Eventually, Angie forced herself to go into the office. She nearly got yelled at for being late, but her boss took one look at her face, reminded her she had sick days, and backed away.  
  
She told herself she was staying late to catch up on the missed time, but as the clock continued to tick on she still couldn't make herself go back ho-- to Will's house. More specifically, she couldn't face the three people inside it who were probably still talking about whether or not she'd lost her mind.  
  
Angie knew Will liked her, but the truth was that Will liked almost _everyone_. If he had an actual _type_ , it was talented, successful, slightly terrifying women who could probably eat her for breakfast. The absolute silence this morning, along with the complete lack of anything resembling a missed call or text from Will, said louder than words that she'd dropped him into a situation _so_ awkward that he didn't even want to talk about _feelings_. Will _always_ wanted to talk about feelings, no matter how bad an idea it was. And that didn't even include the kids, who she flat-out traumatized this morning. What was she supposed to say to them?  
  
Eventually, though, half the lights got turned off and the cleaning staff started giving her extremely judgey looks. That was the point when she finally gave up and went ho-- to Will's house, trying to come up with every excuse she could that didn't involve her actually spilling her guts. Maybe she could figure out a way to mitigate some of the damage with Will, and by the time the kids woke up in the morning they'd figure out a way to deal with the rest of it.  
  
By the time she pulled into the driveway, only the kitchen lights were still on. Angie took a deep breath and went inside, setting her things by the door and quietly walking into the kitchen. Will was just pulling loaves of banana bread out of the oven, and he looked up at her for just a moment before returning his attention to the bread. "Leftovers are in the fridge." He sounded almost normal, enough to make Angie's stomach twist. "Could you bag these, once they're cool? I stayed awake long enough to get them out of the oven, but I think it's about time I hit the hay."  
  
"Of course." She headed toward him, freezing in place when he very clearly started moving in the opposite direction. "What inspired you to start baking so late?"

"I've been doing a lot of baking today." He tried hard to sound cheerful, but he never quite met her eyes as he bustled unnecessarily around the kitchen. "You may have to dig the lasagne out of the fridge a little bit."  
  
"Stress baking?" she asked, resisting the urge to just grab him and make him look at her.  
  
He hesitated briefly, then bustled even harder. "Sometimes the urge to bake just hits me." When he picked up the same thing and put it down twice, he caught himself and took a deep breath. "I should probably get to bed."  
  
Angie's chest hurt. "Are we really not going to talk about this?"  
  
She could see his hands tighten on the edge of the counter. "I thought it would make things easier."  
  
Pain hit, sharp and vicious. "Easier for _you_ , maybe," she snapped, clinging to the anger that rose up in defense. "As far as I'm concerned, I'd rather hear the worst 'let's be friends' talk you've got than stand here and watch you emotionally freeze me--"  
  
"Wait." Will lifted his head, turning around with a blazingly intent look on his face. " _I'm_ the one with the 'let's be friends' talk?"  
  
She just stared at him, thrown by the comment. "I _kissed_ you! I'm sure as hell not going to be the one giving the talk!"  
  
"A good morning kiss! And then you freaked out about it!"  
  
"So did you!"  
  
"You don't know that! You wouldn't even look at me!"  
  
"Because I was scared!"  
  
Utter silence fell as Angie and Will stared at each other. Her heart was pounding so loudly she could feel it in her ears, but she wasn't sure if it was a fight or flight response or something far more serious. The expression on his face was somehow even more intent than it had been before, but every shred of frustration was gone from his voice when he spoke again. "What were you scared of?" he asked quietly.  
  
Angie lifted her hands helplessly. "Feelings are the worst! They let people get inside you and mess with your head and... and..." She stopped, swallowing. "After Derek, I promised myself that the only person who would _ever_ be able to affect me that much was _Graham_. But then _you_ came along and--"  
  
Whatever further explanation Angie might have stumbled through didn't happen, because suddenly Will was _right_ there. He'd somehow gotten around the counter in an eyeblink, swooping down to give her the kind of kiss she thought only existed in movies. The sheer _heat_ of it shorted her brain out completely, but the rest of her immediately got with the program and grabbed on tight. When it gentled, full of a tenderness she would never be able to put into words, she felt her heart melt into a puddle at her feet.  
  
When they finally broke apart, Will leaned his forehead against hers. "You're so deep inside me, Angie," he breathed. "I was just as scared as you were."  
  
She squeezed her eyes shut, so full of emotion she was amazed it could all still fit inside her. "I meant what I said this morning," she managed, voice thick. "Please don't ask me to repeat it any time soon, but I meant it."  
  
When she opened her eyes again, his face looked like it had been lit from within. "I love you, too."  
  
She grinned at him, he grinned back, and they were both about to lean in for another kiss when there was the quiet sound of someone clearing their throat from the hallway. They sprang apart as far as they could without letting go of each other, turning around to see both of their children standing in the entry to the kitchen.  
  
They were both wearing their pajamas, the expressions on their faces a mixture of seriousness and something that looked surprisingly close to relief. "Sorry to interrupt," Graham said, easing the sudden knot in Angie's stomach. "But we just wanted to tell you we approve."  
  
"There will of course be an adjustment period," Sophie added. "But if you picked up on any concern earlier, it was mostly due to the uncertainty of the situation." She nodded at Angie. "I like you, but if you'd hurt my dad I would have had to stop speaking to you."  
  
Angie nodded back, chest tight. "Of course."  
  
"I know you'll treat Mom right," Graham said to Will. "But Sophie and I are going to go back to bed before any more gross stuff happens."  
  
"Part of the adjustment period, I'm sure." Sophie gave them both a small wave. "Goodnight."  
  
Angie and Will both echoed the goodnight as the two children retreated back down the hallway, waiting until they heard the door to Sophie's room close. Once it did, Angie let out a relieved breath. "Well, that went better than I expected," she said, moving back towards Will.  
  
He tightened his arms around her. "Our children have excellent taste."  
  
She looked up at him, wondering why this didn't feel nearly as terrifying as it should have. "So, where do we go from here?"  
  
"I'm sure we'll figure it out." He looked down at her, expression so hopeful she couldn't have denied him anything. "Ready for an adventure?"  
  
Angie smiled, stretching upward for another kiss. "Absolutely."

**Author's Note:**

> Come check out my [original fiction,](https://jennifferwardell.wixsite.com/mybooks) my [blog,](http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com) or say hi to me on [Tumblr](http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com)!


End file.
